JAKARTA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry opened Thursday the Bahasa Indonesia course for young diplomats from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Cambodia and Laos send three diplomats each to participate in the three-month course, while China, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand send two diplomats.

Only Malaysia, one of the ASEAN members, will skip the course as their Malay language is roughly similar to the Indonesian language.

The ministry's secretary general Imron Cotan said apart from language, the diplomats will also learn Indonesia's culture, political system and recent economic developments.

He said other ASEAN countries will run the similar programs for their neighbors.

"I hope such courses will help us better communicate and understand each other in the future," he said. Enditem